DAILY NEWS: Getting Back to Business, Nearly Two Weeks Later

DAILY NEWS: Getting Back to Business, Nearly Two Weeks Laterby Eugene Hernandez and Anthony Kaufman/indieWIRE>> NYC Film Productions Still Sputtering; Mayor's Office: "Back to Normal Shortly"(indieWIRE/09.24.01) -- Last Tuesday, a week after the attacks on the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagon, the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting (MOFTB) began issuing shooting permits for film and television work only in New York's outer boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronxand Staten Island. According to a statement on the MOFTB's website onFriday, "Permits for New York [City] continue to be suspended until furthernotice."On Friday, the agency's Commissioner Patricia Lee Scott told indieWIRE, "Weexpect to get Manhattan on tap as soon as possible on a limited basis," butindicated that no productions will be allowed south of Houston Street. "Wedon't want to get in the way," she added.While Scott said her "best estimate" was that permits would be issued bySeptember 30, some productions could be getting shooting dates by this week."We keep a grid of what's happening, get bids from productions and try toaccommodate as much as we can," Scott explained.According to Scott, film production in the city was at a slow pace as aresult of last spring's pre-strike shooting crunch. "It was a lucky break,in a way: the threatened strikes pushed all of our big features to finishbetween January to June, so we'd done a year's work in six months," shesaid.However, a handful of independent productions have been affected. With only5 days left in a 27-day shoot, production was suspended on writer-directorPeter Sollett's feature debut, an adaptation of his award-winning short film"Five Feet High and Rising." The Sept. 11 attacks hit just as Sollett andcrew were about to get first shot of the day. As of last Friday, 10 daysafter the tragedy, they were still waiting to resume filming at an apartmentbuilding on the Lower East Side."We were shooting with kids and our first concern was people's safety andemotions. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who was in the [World TradeCenter]," Sollett's producer Scott Macaulay told indieWIRE. "We obviouslycouldn't continue shooting." According to Macaulay, a lot of Sollett's crewactually made the trip to "ground zero" to volunteer; grips joined thebucket brigade and their caterer provided craft services.Their crew was not alone. According to Commissioner Scott, many unionmembers of Motion Picture Studio Mechanics Local 52 joined the reliefeffort; from stagehands and gaffers, grips and craft services, they haveoffered their expertise without pay since the attacks.One of the other independent productions shooting around town was Greg Pak's"Robot Stories," which began filming on Monday, September 10. While theywere shooting in Brooklyn on the morning of the 11th, the film's productionoffices on Fulton Street and Broadway felt the impact of the World TradeCenters' collapse. According to line producer Karin Chin, many of theirstaff "barely survived" escape from the office and are "still traumatized bythe experience."Unlike Sollett's film, "Robot Stories" resumed production the day after theattacks in their Brooklyn location. Pak told indieWIRE, "It was tough, butit felt right in some ways to do something positive. At the same time, Ihaven't processed all of this."The "Robot Stories" team has since relocated their production office to theproducer's apartment, and is still waiting to recover wardrobe, props andediting equipment from their Fulton Street headquarters. They had scheduledsome shooting days in Manhattan this week, but like Sollett's shoot, theyare looking at other options for exteriors, either in New Jersey or Queens."It's been so difficult," commented Chin. "Because there were so fewfeatures filming, we weren't sure what to do."Several Gotham-based independent companies were not filming and onlysuffered slight production setbacks. Hart/Sharp ("You Can Count on Me") was preparing deliveries for "Lift," GreeneStreet stopped post-productionmomentarily on "swimfan" and Killer Films continued its prep for Todd Haynes new film, shooting later this fall."We will be back to normal shortly and nobody has lost a lot of ground,"Commissioner Scott told indieWIRE. "The film community is able to movesmartly and swiftly."On the MOFTB website, a recent memo by New York Mayor Rudolph Guilianiclaimed, "Our $2.5 billion feature film and television industry continues towork on stages. I am also very proud that the construction of the largestgroup of soundstages on the East Coast is proceeding at the Brooklyn NavyYard. We are determined to return our city to normal as quickly aspossible.""People really want to come back to work," commented producer Macaulay. "Atdifferent times, it seemed like we might be shooting again, and we asked thecast and crew, 'Are you ready to come back?' And people really wanted tocome back to their daily lives." [Anthony Kaufman]

(indieWIRE/09.24.01) -- Last Tuesday, a week after the attacks on the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagon, the New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting (MOFTB) began issuing shooting permits for film and television work only in New York's outer boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, Bronxand Staten Island. According to a statement on the MOFTB's website onFriday, "Permits for New York [City] continue to be suspended until furthernotice."

On Friday, the agency's Commissioner Patricia Lee Scott told indieWIRE, "Weexpect to get Manhattan on tap as soon as possible on a limited basis," butindicated that no productions will be allowed south of Houston Street. "Wedon't want to get in the way," she added.

While Scott said her "best estimate" was that permits would be issued bySeptember 30, some productions could be getting shooting dates by this week."We keep a grid of what's happening, get bids from productions and try toaccommodate as much as we can," Scott explained.

According to Scott, film production in the city was at a slow pace as aresult of last spring's pre-strike shooting crunch. "It was a lucky break,in a way: the threatened strikes pushed all of our big features to finishbetween January to June, so we'd done a year's work in six months," shesaid.

However, a handful of independent productions have been affected. With only5 days left in a 27-day shoot, production was suspended on writer-directorPeter Sollett's feature debut, an adaptation of his award-winning short film"Five Feet High and Rising." The Sept. 11 attacks hit just as Sollett andcrew were about to get first shot of the day. As of last Friday, 10 daysafter the tragedy, they were still waiting to resume filming at an apartmentbuilding on the Lower East Side.

"We were shooting with kids and our first concern was people's safety andemotions. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who was in the [World TradeCenter]," Sollett's producer Scott Macaulay told indieWIRE. "We obviouslycouldn't continue shooting." According to Macaulay, a lot of Sollett's crewactually made the trip to "ground zero" to volunteer; grips joined thebucket brigade and their caterer provided craft services.

Their crew was not alone. According to Commissioner Scott, many unionmembers of Motion Picture Studio Mechanics Local 52 joined the reliefeffort; from stagehands and gaffers, grips and craft services, they haveoffered their expertise without pay since the attacks.

One of the other independent productions shooting around town was Greg Pak's"Robot Stories," which began filming on Monday, September 10. While theywere shooting in Brooklyn on the morning of the 11th, the film's productionoffices on Fulton Street and Broadway felt the impact of the World TradeCenters' collapse. According to line producer Karin Chin, many of theirstaff "barely survived" escape from the office and are "still traumatized bythe experience."

Unlike Sollett's film, "Robot Stories" resumed production the day after theattacks in their Brooklyn location. Pak told indieWIRE, "It was tough, butit felt right in some ways to do something positive. At the same time, Ihaven't processed all of this."

The "Robot Stories" team has since relocated their production office to theproducer's apartment, and is still waiting to recover wardrobe, props andediting equipment from their Fulton Street headquarters. They had scheduledsome shooting days in Manhattan this week, but like Sollett's shoot, theyare looking at other options for exteriors, either in New Jersey or Queens."It's been so difficult," commented Chin. "Because there were so fewfeatures filming, we weren't sure what to do."

Several Gotham-based independent companies were not filming and onlysuffered slight production setbacks. Hart/Sharp ("You Can Count on Me") was preparing deliveries for "Lift," GreeneStreet stopped post-productionmomentarily on "swimfan" and Killer Films continued its prep for Todd Haynes new film, shooting later this fall.

"We will be back to normal shortly and nobody has lost a lot of ground,"Commissioner Scott told indieWIRE. "The film community is able to movesmartly and swiftly."

On the MOFTB website, a recent memo by New York Mayor Rudolph Guilianiclaimed, "Our $2.5 billion feature film and television industry continues towork on stages. I am also very proud that the construction of the largestgroup of soundstages on the East Coast is proceeding at the Brooklyn NavyYard. We are determined to return our city to normal as quickly aspossible."

"People really want to come back to work," commented producer Macaulay. "Atdifferent times, it seemed like we might be shooting again, and we asked thecast and crew, 'Are you ready to come back?' And people really wanted tocome back to their daily lives." [Anthony Kaufman]

>> indieWIRE DISCUSSION: "Now more than ever we need artists"

(indieWIRE/09.24.01) -- "If we the independent film community, the whole oddgrab bag of us, want to contribute beyond cash and blood, we shouldcontribute our voices, writing and skills to coming to terms with whathappened," filmmaker Steven Bognar wrote in indieWIRE's discussion boardabout the tragic events of September 11th. Last week we created thediscussion board on the indieWIRE site, offering an opportunity to discussthe aftermath of the September 11th tragedy. Our readers have weighed inwith insightful and often inspiring personal thoughts.

At the same time, since the tragedy we have consciously avoided much of thedaily biz news that is regularly included in indieWIRE's news section --honestly, our hearts and minds haven't been in it. We've been more focusedon our friends, our family and our city than on the deals and news thatdrive the business of film.

As we have spent time digesting what has happened in our hometown, we'vealso spent time looking at how our loose community of colleagues and readershave been affected. Along the way, a few news stories have crossed our path.Until now, it hasn't really felt appropriate to pursue them. Tomorrow, we'llpublish our first selection of "regular" news items, while we continue toconsider and examine the impact of the tragic events.

"Now more than ever we need artists who will help us to wake up from oursleep of unreality. Who will tell us the truth about our lives, ouremotions, our culture, and our world. Painful and hard truths at times;joyous and celebratory truths at others," writer Ray Carney posted in theindieWIRE board this weekend. "We need our artists to help us understandwhat we are and what we can be. It is time to get on with our work. Itmatters now more than ever."

We at indieWIRE look forward to our community getting back to work and weare anxious to learn about the stories and ideas that bloom from thischallenging period. [Eugene Hernandez]

(indieWIRE/09.24.01) -- Movie theater owners from around the countryare putting aside financial concerns and their competitive nature toassist in the relief effort; This weekend, IFC Films will release "GoTigers!" Kenneth A. Carlson's documentary about the Massillon Tigers, a high school football team striving to better their season and savetheir school; And, iW invites you take a moment to join other membersof the community to offer your thoughts or perhaps pose a question oridea that we all can consider regarding the relevance of the arts inlight of recent tragic events.